Editing Elizabeth Taylor (section)

===1961–1967: ''Cleopatra'' and other collaborations with Richard Burton===
[[File:Taylor and Burton Cleopatra.jpg|thumb|left|[[Richard Burton]] as Mark Antony with Taylor as Cleopatra in ''Cleopatra'' (1963)]]
After completing her MGM contract, Taylor starred in [[20th Century-Fox]]'s ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963). According to film historian Alexander Doty, this historical epic made her more famous than ever before.{{sfn|Doty|2012|p=47}} She became the first movie star to be paid $1 million for a role; Fox also granted her 10% of the film's gross profits, as well as shooting the film in [[Todd-AO]], a widescreen format for which she had inherited the rights from Mike Todd.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|10–11}}<ref name=Walker />{{rp|211–223}} The film's production – characterized by costly sets and costumes, constant delays, and a scandal caused by Taylor's extramarital affair with her co-star [[Richard Burton]] – was closely followed by the media, with ''Life'' proclaiming it the "Most Talked About Movie Ever Made."<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|11–12,39,45–46, 56}} Filming began in England in 1960, but had to be halted several times because of bad weather and Taylor's ill health.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|12–13}} In March 1961, she developed nearly fatal [[pneumonia]], which necessitated a [[tracheotomy]]; one news agency erroneously reported that she had died.<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|12–13}} Once she had recovered, Fox discarded the already filmed material, and moved the production to Rome, changing its director to Joseph Mankiewicz, and the actor playing [[Mark Antony]] to Burton.<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|12–18}} Filming was finally completed in July 1962.<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|39}} The film's final cost was $62 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=62|start_year=1962|r=0}} million in {{Inflation-year|US}}), making it the most expensive film made up to that point.<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|46}}

''Cleopatra'' became the biggest box-office success of 1963 in the United States; the film grossed $15.7 million at the box office (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=15.7|start_year=1963|r=0}} million in {{Inflation-year|US}}).<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|56–57}} Regardless, it took several years for the film to earn back its production costs, which drove Fox near to bankruptcy. The studio publicly blamed Taylor for the production's troubles and unsuccessfully sued Burton and Taylor for allegedly damaging the film's commercial prospects with their behavior.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|46}} The film's reviews were mixed to negative, with critics finding Taylor overweight and her voice too thin, and unfavorably comparing her with her classically trained British co-stars.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|56–58}}<ref name=Walker />{{rp|265–267}}{{sfn|Doty|2012|pp=48–49}} In retrospect, Taylor called ''Cleopatra'' a "low point" in her career, and said that the studio had cut out the scenes which she felt provided the "core of the characterization."<ref name="lifemag"/>

Taylor intended to follow ''Cleopatra'' by headlining an all-star cast in Fox's black comedy ''[[What a Way to Go!]]'' (1964), but negotiations fell through, and [[Shirley MacLaine]] was cast instead. In the meantime, film producers were eager to profit from the scandal surrounding Taylor and Burton, and they next starred together in [[Anthony Asquith]]'s ''[[The V.I.P.s (film)|The V.I.P.s]]'' (1963), which mirrored the headlines about them.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|42–45}}<ref name=Walker />{{rp|252–255,260–266}} Taylor played a famous model attempting to leave her husband for a lover, and Burton her estranged millionaire husband. Released soon after ''Cleopatra'', it became a box-office success.<ref name=Walker />{{rp|264}} Taylor was also paid $500,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=.5|start_year=1963|r=2}} million in {{Inflation-year|US}}) to appear in a [[CBS]] television special, ''[[Elizabeth Taylor in London]]'', in which she visited the city's landmarks and recited passages from the works of famous British writers.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|74–75}}

[[File:Taylor-Burton-Sandpiper.jpg|thumb|right|Taylor and Burton in ''The Sandpiper'' (1965)]]

After completing ''The V.I.P.s'', Taylor took a two-year hiatus from films, during which she and Burton divorced their spouses and married each other.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|112}} The [[supercouple]] continued starring together in films in the mid-1960s, earning a combined $88 million over the next decade; Burton once stated, "They say we generate more business activity than one of the smaller African nations."<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|193}}<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Christopher |last=Bateman |title=Liz and Dick: The Ultimate Celebrity Couple |magazine=Vanity Fair |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/06/liz-and-dick-the-ultimate-celebrity-couple |date=June 1, 2010 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> Biographer Alexander Walker compared these films to "illustrated gossip columns", as their film roles often reflected their public personae, while film historian Alexander Doty has noted that the majority of Taylor's films during this period seemed to "conform to, and reinforce, the image of an indulgent, raucous, immoral or amoral, and appetitive (in many senses of the word) 'Elizabeth Taylor{{Single+double}}.<ref name="Walker" />{{rp|294}}{{sfn|Doty|2012|p=51}} Taylor and Burton's first joint project following her hiatus was Vincente Minnelli's romantic drama ''[[The Sandpiper]]'' (1965), about an illicit love affair between a bohemian artist and a married clergyman in [[Big Sur]], California. Its reviews were largely negative, but it grossed a successful $14 million in the box office (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=14|start_year=1965|r=0}} million in {{Inflation year|index=US}}).<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|116–118}}

Their next project, ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'' (1966), an adaptation of a [[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?|play of the same name]] by [[Edward Albee]], featured the most critically acclaimed performance of Taylor's career.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|142,151–152}}<ref name=Walker />{{rp|286}} She and Burton starred as Martha and George, a middle-aged couple going through a marital crisis. In order to convincingly play 50-year-old Martha, Taylor gained weight, wore a wig, and used makeup to make herself look older and tired – in stark contrast to her public image as a glamorous film star.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|136–137}}<ref name=Walker />{{rp|281–282}} At Taylor's suggestion, theatre director [[Mike Nichols]] was hired to direct the project, despite his lack of experience with film.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|139–140}} The production differed from anything she had done previously, as Nichols wanted to thoroughly rehearse the play before beginning filming.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|141}} ''Woolf'' was considered ground-breaking for its adult themes and uncensored language, and opened to "glorious" reviews.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|140,151}} ''Variety'' wrote that Taylor's "characterization is at once sensual, spiteful, cynical, pitiable, loathsome, lustful, and tender."<ref>{{cite news |title=Review: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |url=https://variety.com/1965/film/reviews/who-s-afraid-of-virginia-woolf-3-1200420919/ |work=Variety |date=December 31, 1965 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> [[Stanley Kauffmann]] of ''The New York Times'' stated that she "does the best work of her career, sustained and urgent."<ref>{{cite news |title=Screen: Funless Games at George and Martha's:Albee's 'Virginia Woolf' Becomes a Film |first=Stanley |last=Kauffman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/06/24/archives/screen-funless-games-at-george-and-marthasalbees-virginia-woolf.html |work=The New York Times |date=June 24, 1966 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> The film also became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|151–152}}<ref name=Walker />{{rp|286}} Taylor received her second Academy Award, and BAFTA, [[National Board of Review]], and New York City Film Critics Circle awards for her performance.
[[File:Liz Taylor en Richard Burton tijdens persconferentie op Schiphol betreft film , Bestanddeelnr 917-6937.jpg|thumb|Taylor and Burton in 1965]]
In 1966, Taylor and Burton performed ''[[Doctor Faustus (play)|Doctor Faustus]]'' for a week in [[Oxford]] to benefit the [[Oxford University Dramatic Society]]; he starred and she appeared in her first stage role as [[Helen of Troy]], a part which required no speaking.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|186–189}} Although it received generally negative reviews, Burton produced it as a film, ''[[Doctor Faustus (1967 film)|Doctor Faustus]]'' (1967), with the same cast.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|186–189}} It was also panned by critics and grossed only $600,000 in the box office (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=.6|start_year=1967|r=2}} million in {{Inflation year|index=US}}).<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|230–232}} Taylor and Burton's next project, [[Franco Zeffirelli]]'s ''[[The Taming of the Shrew (1967 film)|The Taming of the Shrew]]'' (1967), which they also co-produced, was more successful.<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|164}} It posed another challenge for Taylor, as she was the only actor in the project with no previous experience of performing Shakespeare; Zeffirelli later stated that this made her performance interesting, as she "invented the part from scratch."<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|168}} Critics found the play to be fitting material for the couple, and the film became a box-office success by grossing $12 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=12|start_year=1967|r=2}} million in {{Inflation year|index=US}}).<ref name="Kashner" />{{rp|181, 186}}

Taylor's third film released in 1967, [[John Huston]]'s ''[[Reflections in a Golden Eye (film)|Reflections in a Golden Eye]]'', was her first without Burton since ''Cleopatra''. Based on a [[Reflections in a Golden Eye (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[Carson McCullers]], it was a drama about a repressed gay military officer and his unfaithful wife. It was originally slated to co-star Taylor's old friend Montgomery Clift, whose career had been in decline for several years owing to his substance abuse problems. Determined to secure his involvement in the project, Taylor even offered to pay for his insurance.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|157–161}} But Clift died from a heart attack before filming began; he was replaced in the role by [[Marlon Brando]].<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|175,189}} ''Reflections'' was a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|233–234}} Taylor and Burton's last film of the year was the adaptation of [[Graham Greene]]'s novel, ''[[The Comedians (1967 film)|The Comedians]]'', which received mixed reviews and was a box-office disappointment.<ref name=Kashner />{{rp|228–232}}